World Bank Group partnership

Construction worker with a silver hard hat and yellow gloves bending forward on a busy construction site.

UNDP Yemen

World Bank Group partnership

Context and challenges

Years of conflict have fractured the economy, crippled public services, and stretched social safety nets to their limit. Today, millions of Yemeni families struggle to put food on the table.

At the same time, the ongoing conflict has placed significant pressure on public institutions in Yemen. These institutions operate amid capacity constraints, infrastructure limitations, and complex systems and coordination challenges, affecting public governance, fiscal management, and civil service administration. Limited access to modern banking services further constrains access to finance, making it more difficult to establish and grow small businesses, particularly for women and young people.

Climate change is placing additional pressure on the daily lives and livelihoods of people across Yemen. Farmers face increasing water scarcity and declining soil quality, while coastal fishing communities contend with post-harvest losses, value-chain constraints, and fisheries management challenges. Together, these pressures affect the sustainability and resilience of livelihoods that depend on agriculture and fisheries.

Response

In strategic partnership with the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA), national partners, and local communities, UNDP implements an integrated, multi-sectoral approach to addressing Yemen’s development challenges. This approach looks beyond short-term interventions to address the underlying drivers of fragility, institutional constraints, and food insecurity, while protecting human capital, strengthening institutional capacities at national and local levels, and supporting the foundations for sustainable economic recovery.

This approach combines immediate cash-based assistance with longer-term development interventions. By upgrading infrastructure across agrifood and fishery value chains, supporting climate-resilient farming, strengthening public financial and civil service systems, and expanding access to digital financial infrastructure and essential services, we are building the foundation for transparent, inclusive, and resilient public governance and economic recovery.

Key interventions

A. Strengthening core public institutional systems and management functions

Sustaining long-term recovery requires steady public administration, reliable national data, and modernised financial systems.

Modernising statistical systems: Supporting the Central Statistics Organisation in Aden to upgrade statistical infrastructure, update national accounts, and improve data collection for evidence-based policy, planning, macroeconomic management, service delivery, and recovery efforts.
Overhauling public financial management: Delivering technical support to the Ministry of Finance to improve budget preparation and execution, cash management, expenditure control, financial reporting, and readiness for a Treasury Single Account.
Strengthening civil service and payroll integrity: Working with the Ministry of Civil Service and Insurance to improve civil service records, streamline HRM processes, automate employee verification, and ensure payroll transparency.
Establishing digital IT systems and data infrastructure: Rolling out modern Financial Management Information Systems and Human Resource Management Information Systems, backed by secure hybrid data architectures with local primary storage, cloud redundancy, and real-time disaster recovery replication.

B. Building stronger safety nets and digital finance

Connecting immediate household support with long-term economic inclusion requires stabilising incomes while building modern financial mechanisms and supporting private sector growth.

Cash and nutrition support: Providing cash based assistance to families experiencing food insecurity and prioritising women and children facing acute malnutrition.
Private sector development and sustainable livelihoods: Providing grants, technical coaching, and practical skills training to micro and small enterprises, cooperatives, and lead firms to help local businesses stay afloat, spark local trade, and create sustainable employment opportunities.
Digital financial inclusion: Working directly with the Central Bank to set up Fast Payment Systems and Real-Time Gross Settlement Systems. This enables the digitalisation of payments, social transfers, and business transactions, making financial services faster, safe, and accessible to all.

C. Scaling climate-resilient farming and sustainable fisheries

Achieving food security in Yemen relies on building resilient local production networks while strengthening the supply chains that bring it to market.

Boosting agricultural productivity: Supporting farming communities with climate-adapted inputs, processing equipment, and practical trainings on sustainable farming techniques to increase crop yields and rural incomes.
Strengthening fishery governance and supply chains: Enhancing data systems and governance to promote sustainable and climate-resilient management of fishery and marine resources, while rehabilitating fish landing sites, expanding cold-chain and renewable-energy infrastructure, improving fish handling and preservation practices, and strengthening linkages across the fisheries value chain.
Empowering local producers: Helping agricultural and fishery cooperatives and small local businesses, especially ones led by women and youth, gain business management skills to help their communities manage shared natural resources sustainably.

D. Restoring water security and essential infrastructure

Addressing Yemen’s status as one of the most water-scare countries in the world requires combining advanced water data systems with climate-resilient infrastructure.

Real-time water data: Developing and expanding early warning platforms and the Climate and Water Information Management System to enhance basin-level governance and manage flood or drought risks.
Climate-resilient irrigation and land restoration: Upgrading agricultural irrigation networks, restoring degraded lands, and protecting watersheds in vulnerable basins to optimise water efficiency and keep soil productive.
Revitalising basic infrastructure: Rehabilitating water storage schemes, sanitation systems, and rural access roads to ensure safe, reliable access to critical public services for deprived communities.

WBG-UNDP partnership in numbers

Income and infrastructure: Over 631,142 people have accessed income-earning opportunities through cash-for-work and community contracting. Concurrently, 1,236 kilometers of roads and 2,552 classrooms have been rehabilitated, restoring physical access to markets, health facilities, and education.
Agriculture and climate resilience: Direct investments have protected nearly 43,123 hectares of farmland, rehabilitated over 37,000 meters of irrigation canals, and constructed close to one million cubic meters of rainwater harvesting capacity—directly supporting more than 22,000 farmers alongside thousands of women through livestock and home-garden initiatives
Fisheries and coastal communities: Coastal value chains have been strengthened by equipping 2,604 fisherfolk, 654 SMEs and cooperatives, and 1,710 women and youth, while improving fisheries infrastructure through eight rehabilitated landing sites, seven solar systems, and investments in ice production and cold-chain facilities.
Basic services: Water and sanitation projects have delivered safe, sustainable service access to over 214,000 people, mitigating public health risks and supporting community stability.